


Mary, Quite Contrary

by KarmicRetribution



Series: Multiple Tales [2]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Fluff, Gardening, Mother-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 23:52:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarmicRetribution/pseuds/KarmicRetribution
Summary: How does your garden grow?OrPatience is a quiet child, and Toriel tries to figure out what interests them.





	Mary, Quite Contrary

Patience was always a quiet, unassuming child. Even back when Toriel first found them, so many years ago. They were content to do whatever she asked of them, never complaining. And they thankfully showed no inclination to leave.  
She named them Patience, after their SOUL type, when they offered no name for her to call them. It just… felt right. Toriel used to often wondered if they simply did not remember their name, or anything at all before they lived with her. But then she would catch them during their daily patrols staring up at the hole from which they fell, and she could tell that they were waiting for something.

  
What it was that they were waiting for, she did not know.

  
Besides their daily walks through the Ruins together, Patience would help her cook, and clean up the house. And they would listen to her tell stories. Unfortunately, her selection of books were small, and uninteresting, yet Patience never complained.  
Toriel didn’t know what Patience was interested in though. Until one day, she found Patience playing in the dirt. The scold she prepared for Patience getting their clothes dirty died on her lips when she saw the small smile on Patience’s lips, as they prepared a small hole and put a yellow flower in it, patting down the soil. Looking around, there were dozens of flowers like that, transplanted into a new home, arranged loosely into a kind of garden.

  
After that, Toriel went out and bought a ton of gardening tools and books. She designed clothes for Patience to wear, rather than the robes they had worn before, like her own. The new clothes were easier to wash and better for Patience to play in.  
Patience practically devoured the new books, learning everything they could. The tree in front of her home that had been steadily dying began flourishing once again under their green thumb. Soon, Toriel had a source of fresh vegetables and herbs, as small as the variety was. Patience was fond of giving away the excess vegetables, and flowers from their own private garden, proud of their own achievements.

  
And Toriel was proud of them as well, and happy that her child had found something that they enjoyed, solely on their own.


End file.
